


Say You'll Stay With Me

by SamsJam



Category: Merlin (TV), Pretty Woman (1990)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Prostitution, M/M, Over Abundance of Snark, WIP
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-15
Updated: 2014-03-15
Packaged: 2018-01-15 20:12:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1317730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SamsJam/pseuds/SamsJam
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Gwaine, a down-on-his-luck prostitute in Hollywood, gets picked up by wealthy businessman Arthur Pendragon, he can't believe his luck. And when their arrangement is expands to include being his escort for several business and social functions, neither of them could predict how their relationship would develop. Merlin/Pretty Woman fusion fic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to every who made [GwaineFest](http://gwainefest.tumblr.com/) a reality, especially the amazing [Kimli](http://onceandfuturekimli.tumblr.com/)! 
> 
> A special thank you to the lovely artist [alby-mangroves](http://alby-mangroves.livejournal.com/)! I hope my fic does [this amazing piece](http://artgroves.tumblr.com/post/79711989503/gwaine-for-this-gwainefest-fic-and-lalala-what-is) justice! 
> 
> And last but not least, thanks to my darling betas [Meg](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Wreck/pseuds/Wreck) & [pentrin](http://pentrin.tumblr.com/).

Arthur couldn’t help but miss London as he looked out from the obnoxiously large windows of his uncle’s home in the Hollywood Hills. It wasn’t that Los Angeles was ugly, it just wasn’t London. 

He’d only been at the party for ten minutes, but it had felt like a lifetime. The room was full of impeccably dressed people, busily laughing and talking. There was even a magician entertaining the guests with cheap sleight of hand and cheesy one-liners. If asked, anyone in attendance would have insisted the party was to celebrate his coming to Los Angeles and the impending expansion of Excalibur Investments. But he knew, they all knew, that everyone was more interested in displaying their own wealth than anything else.

The mindless prattle, the fake smiles, the constant advances of socialites looking for a rich husband, he was so tired of it all. As usual, he was surrounded by people, but he’d never felt more alone. 

Arthur was relieved when his phone began to vibrate in his pocket. That was, until he saw who it was that was trying to reach him. It was the fourth time she’d called in 20 minutes. Quickly retreating into the nearby study, he let out a deep sigh and answered the call. 

“What is it Vivian? Are you here yet?” 

Her response came after a few tense heartbeats. “No, Arthur. If you ever picked up your phone you’d know that. I’m not coming to L.A.” 

“I told my secretary to make the arrangements, didn’t she call you?”

“She did.” Vivian spat, “Honestly Arthur, I speak to your secretary more than I speak to you.”

Arthur felt the anger flare up inside of him, but he quickly tempered it causing his response to come out icy, “This is a very important week for me. I need you here.”

“Maybe you should have given me some notice. A text would have been nice. Or maybe even a phone call to let me know you wanted me to fly halfway around the globe!” She shrieked, “I have a life too you know? I’m not at your beck and call!”

Her voice had gotten so high-pitched that Arthur had to pull the phone away from his ear to save his eardrums. In theory, she was right. But considering the only thing about him that really interested her was his money, he didn’t feel that bad. Pinching his the bridge of his nose, he put the phone back to his ear, “I need you here. I’m expected to have someone with me at these events.”

“If all I am to you is someone to fulfill some social obligation, maybe I should just move out.”

“If that’s what you want, yes.” 

“When you get back to London, we’ll discuss it.”

“Now’s as good a time as any.”

“That’s fine with me Arthur. Goodbye.”

“Goodbye, Vivian.” He responded, but it was clear she’d already hung up. 

This wasn't something he needed. His head was already pounding and he didn’t know what was worse, that he’d just become single, or that he didn’t care. 

He needed to get out. 

Shaking his head, he got up and headed towards the door. As soon as he stepped out of the office, he was intercepted by one of his junior associates. Before the young man could start some heinous attempt at small talk, Arthur took control of the conversation, “How did the Gawant stock open in Tokyo?”

“I don’t know,” the man stammered, obviously taken aback. 

“You don’t know?” Arthur asked, looking incredulous, “The market opened almost ninety minutes ago, you need to stay on top of these things, or I'll find someone who will.” 

Arthur didn’t listen as the man started concocting some sort of excuse in response, and started walking towards the door. When he stopped to grab his coat from the closet, he cut off the still yammering man next to him with a sharp, “I really don’t care. I just want this whole thing wrapped up as soon as possible so I can get back to London by Sunday. ”

Before he could get to the door, he heard a familiar voice calling, “Arthur? Is that you?”

At the sound of his name, Arthur reluctantly turned and but was pleasantly surprised by the person making their way towards him. 

“Gwen. You look lovely, as always,” he said with his first genuine smile in what seemed like days. She did look radiant, and it had nothing to do with the yellow dress she was wearing or the way her hair fell in artful curls around her face. “I heard you got married, I’m sorry I wasn’t able to make it.”

“Yeah,” she said, looking down at the impressive diamond ring and barely containing her joy. Putting one hand on her hip playfully, she said,“I couldn’t keep waiting for you.”

Arthur hummed in agreement, “Tell me something. When you and I were dating, did you speak to my secretary more than you spoke to me?”

"Honestly?" Gwen bit her bottom lip, clearly trying to find an answer that wouldn’t hurt his feelings. “We talked so often that she became one of my best friends...she was one of my bridesmaids.” 

Arthur raised an eyebrow and nodded in concession, apparently there was more truth to Vivian’s rant than he’d originally thought. Gwen had been his last serious relationship; his only serious relationship if he were being honest. He had loved her, but they were together as Excalibur was getting off the ground, and his business had always come first. 

He’d hated to see her go, but not enough to fight for her to stay.  

Since then he’d spent more time in meaningless relationships, with both men and women, that were essentially business arrangements, both parties keeping up the pretense of romantic interest, but in Arthur’s mind it was more about convenience than anything else. When he was single, he couldn’t even breathe at a social function without social climbers and their false pretenses clinging to him. 

Gwen leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek, pulling him out of his thoughts. He pushed a stray curl out of her face and said, “Lance is a lucky guy.” 

With a final glance at Gwen, he turned and walked out the door and into the night. With a snap of his fingers, he called over the valet, “Bring me one of Mr. De Bois’ cars.”  

Before he could get into the car and make an escape, his uncle appeared out of nowhere. 

“Arthur, you’re not leaving, are you?” 

Choosing to ignore the question, Arthur took the keys and slipped the valet a random bill. Once he was situated in the car, he finally looked up and said, “Uncle, I’m taking your car.”

“Arthur, your aunt put a lot of work into this party!” 

“She called the caterers and picked out a dress, she’ll forgive me.” Revving the engine, he looked back one last time. “Like I said, I’m taking one of your cars. I’ll see you in the office tomorrow morning.”

“Just, be gentle with it?” Agravaine asked, wincing as the car made a grinding noise and lurched forward.

Waving out the window, Arthur took off down the hill. Happy to leave the party and his uncle behind for the night. 

While Arthur knew his his way around a car, he absolutely hated driving. Especially in the states, with the constant traffic and everything reversed. He probably should have taken the time to look at what car he’d been given before leaving, but he hadn’t wanted to give his uncle any room to make him stay.Maybe the valet had wanted to impress him, or maybe he’d simply pulled around the closest of his uncle’s cars, but Arthur had no idea what he was driving. It was old, that was clear, and probably in excellent condition, but it was finicky, jolting forward one moment, then grinding to a stop without warning.  

Tomorrow he’d hire a car and driver for the week, but for now, he’d have to make it to his hotel on his own. The car couldn’t be that hard to figure out. After all, he’d made his first million by the time he was twenty-one, he should be able to drive this horribly expensive midlife crisis. 

But Arthur was pretty sure the car wasn’t suppose to make that metal-on-metal scraping sound that went straight to his bones. His jaw clenched progressively tighter as he rounded corner after corner, making his way down the hill and into the city. 

On the cab ride over to his uncle’s, the route hadn’t seemed that complicated. Yet, somewhere along the way, the robotic voice of his phone’s GPS had led him astray. The mansions had turned into run-down apartment buildings, and the pedestrians had gone from star-struck tourists with cameras around their necks to noticeably less savory characters calling out to him under the glow of cheap neon signs. 

After the fourth U-turn, Arthur gave up on the directions and threw his phone into the passenger’s seat. 

Beverly Hills couldn’t be that hard to find. 

 


	2. Chapter 2

Gwaine had known it was going to be a shit day the moment he opened his eyes. He’d been out late pulling tricks in disgusting hotels until sun-up and had only been able to catch a few hours of sleep before the shrill scream of his alarm woke him in the early afternoon.

It had taken him almost 20 minutes to actually get out of bed. And another 15 to convince himself to actually begin his routine, starting with an ungodly number of crunches. It became easier once the adrenaline kicked in, and he flowed through series after series of bending and twisting with makeshift weights until his muscles were pleasantly warm and aching. For a second, he thought about going for a run, but decided against it. He got enough cardio on a nightly basis.

He took a quick shower, shaved everywhere that needed it, trimmed his beard to that rugged, little-bit-past-5-o'clock-shadow scruff that so many people loved. Then it came time to pick out an outfit. Last night’s jeans and white t-shirt had worked well, but tonight he was looking for a little more. He settled on his favorite, low rise, ass hugging, leather pants and a studded belt to draw attention to all the right places. Then he slid into a tight, black, deep v-neck tank top that left his arms bare and let a sliver of skin show at his midsection. The more skin, the better.

Before heading out the door, he stopped in front of the mirror to give his armour one last bit of adjustment; prepare for battle, or at least that’s how he thought of it.  He tried out a few of his surefire smiles, and adjusted the necklace he always wore around his neck. Last, but not least, he ran his fingers through his hair, letting it fall in that careless, windswept manner. He missed the days when his “effortless” look was just that, effortless.

Grabbing a handful of condoms, lube, and his keys, he threw opened the door.

He was only a few steps into the hall when the sleazy voice of his thug landlord Dagr, stopped him in his tracks. Rent. Merlin had probably forgotten to pay the rent. Again. And Gwaine didn’t want to deal with it today. It would probably end in some sort of brawl and he just didn’t have time for that.

Luckily, Gwaine hadn’t been seen yet so he turned on his heels and disappeared into the apartment to pull together some cash.

Winding his way back through the piles of garbage and random assortment of useless things that Merlin seemed to collect that decorated their run-down apartment, Gwaine pulled the lid off the toilet and pulled out the plastic container that usually held their extra cash.

“Fuck,” he cursed, as he pulled out a single, crumpled bill. Apparently his prediction of this being a shit day had come true faster than he’d expected.

He had to find Merlin and figure out what happened to their money. The last thing either of them needed was to get thrown out.

It was still too early to safely walk the streets anyways.

But considering that the front door wasn't really being an option, he flipped his hair and went out the window and down the fire escape.

* * *

The Rising Sun was the first stop on his search. It was his and Merlin’s favorite spot. Sure it was dirty and usually full of junkies and dealers but it was cheap and the music was always loud enough to wash away any of the shit that was wearing you down. It also helped that the cops never bothered them here so sometimes they could find a John or three before last call.

But a quick lap around the place turned up nothing.

“Mary,” Gwaine called to the woman behind the bar, “You seen Merlin in here tonight?”

“Last I saw, he was upstairs, sweetheart,” she yelled back, an apologetic look on her face.

Gwaine let out a heavy sigh, this wasn’t going to be good. Upstairs was never good.

Making his way over to the last place he wanted to go, Gwaine plastered on his biggest smile and pressed himself against the guard who controlled access to the stairs. He’d seen the way this one watched him and Merlin work. Getting past the freakishly tall, dark skinned man would be a snap.

“Hey there mate,” he purred, his fingers tracing the other man’s zipper slowly, “how ‘bout you let me up and maybe we can give it a go some time, free of charge?”

Gwaine watched as the bouncer licked his lips and knew that he'd been right.

“Make that a promise and we’ve got a deal," the man said, grabbing Gwaine's ass and pulling them even closer together. 

With a wink, Gwaine simply squeezed past. He knew he’d have to make good on that deal eventually, but honestly, the price wasn’t _that_ high.

Now that the easy part was done, Gwaine's apprehension grew with each step. It was technically the same establishment, but the entirety of the upstairs space was known as High Priestess and everyone knew it was Morgause’s territory. The environment wasn’t that different from downstairs; the music was quieter, and it had its own bar and a dance floor in the center of the space, but it was the curtained booths lining the walls and the dark hallways leading to various rooms that made the space truly different. Part night club, part brothel, Morgause tightly controlled everyone who came up the stairs. Gwaine usually steered clear, and so did Merlin.

But apparently it wasn’t a usual night. Because when Gwaine’s eyes finally adjusted to the dimmer lights, he caught sight of Merlin, sprawled on a couch in between Morgause and her second-in-command, Cenred.

Morgause saw him coming, her heavily rimmed eyes narrowing as she placed a hand on Merlin’s knee possessively.

Gwaine just rolled his eyes, jumped over the small coffee table and wedged himself between the blonde and his best friend. Cenred, who had been rubbing his hand lazily along Merlin’s back and shoulders, balked at Gwaine’s sudden appearance and pried himself off the now too crowded couch.

“Gwaine,” Merlin said, a smile spreading across his face.

“Hey,“ he responded with a smile of his own. Merlin had a way of making Gwaine feel safe and wanted. But this time, he couldn’t just shrug off why he’d tracked the other man down. Shifting his weight so he was facing Merlin, he schooled his emotions and asked what he needed to know, “Is it all gone?”

“This is Morgause and that’s-” Merlin said, acting as if he hadn’t heard the question.

“I know everybody,” Gwaine interrupted. He was quickly losing his patience. Running his hand through his hair, he repeated the question harshly,  “Is it all gone, Merls?”

“Mor gave me a deal on some really great shit,” Merlin shrugged, his voice trailing off as he moved to curl up closer to Gwaine on the couch.

“You bought drugs with our rent money?” Gwaine said, trying to sound concerned but his anger was quickly taking over, ”What’s going on with you?”

“I just needed a little pick-me up,” Merlin pouted, pulling away.

“Now boys, calm down,” Morgause snarled, wrapping her arm around Merlin’s shoulder, “he only owes me three hundred more.”

“Three hundred?” Gwaine recoiled, throwing his hands up and launching himself off the couch. He couldn’t stay there, it felt like what little stability he’d managed to establish was shaking apart.

“Yes, but if you want to play knight-in-shining-armor, I’m sure we can find a place for you here,” she replied, smoothly standing to look him in the eyes, “You could easily work off his debt.”

Gwaine took another step back, as if the idea pained him.

Luckily, Merlin shook the shock of the confrontation off quickly and jumped in, putting himself between the two. Turning to face the woman, he said, “That’s a nice offer, but not today.”

Taking control of the situation, Merlin spun on his heels, grabbed Gwaine’s arm and steered them towards the stairs.

It only took a few seconds to get away, but it wasn’t until they’d passed the bouncer that Gwaine unclenched his fists.

He would have killed for a drink before heading out, but if they were going to make enough money to pay off Morgause and Dagr, they needed to get busy.

Once they were outside, Gwaine felt like he could breathe again. The street was just as noisy and dirty as the club, but having his back to that place felt good. Without a word they both turned and began walking the few blocks to their corner. It was still early, the sun having just gone down, but maybe they’d get lucky.

“I’m sorry ,“ came a small voice from beside him.

“I know you are, Merls.” Gwaine’s said, instantly full of guilt. His anger had washed away as he watched Merlin’s slumped shoulders as they walked down the sidewalk, “but from now on, try to score from someone who doesn’t want to sink their bitch claws into you?”

Merlin just shook his head in agreement, continuing his weary trudge without a word.

“Don’t you want to get out of here?” Gwaine asked a few seconds later.

“Where would we go?” Merlin shrugged.

Gwaine didn’t answer, he couldn’t. He wanted to. But there was a part of him that had always been a wanderer. Constantly searching for some nameless quality that would make him stay. Merlin had given him a place and something solid to hold on to, now he wanted to find a way to take Merlin with him.

* * *

As they closed in on their corner, Gwaine felt Merlin tense next to him. Someone was in their usual spot. He had no idea who this other guy was, but it was clear Merlin did.

If you took away all the strikingly sharp angles, the strangely appealing ears, the almost obscene lips, the bottomless blue eyes, the legs that went on for days, and the smile that could charm anyone, he almost looked like Merlin. A plain, unremarkable, Merlin. They were even similarly dressed, in well fitting jeans, an effortless red scarf that somehow accentuated his long neck, and a simple blue shirt. But where as Merlin’s simple t-shirt had a deep V, this man’s had a high neck, making him seem stuffy and uncomfortable.

“Hey George, this is our street, so get off our corner.” Merlin without preamble. He took two steps forward, planted his feet, and pointed down to the iconic Hollywood Walk of Fame, “You know Gwaine and I work the Ritz Brothers, we work Bob Hope, we work Fred Astaire, all the way down to Ella Fitzgerald.”

“Forgive me, I was just taking a rest.” George sneered, without an ounce of sincerity behind the words. Looking down his nose, his eyes flicked momentarily to Gwaine before returning to Merlin, “Besides, he’s new.”

Up until that point, Gwaine had been content to simply watch the exchange with his arms crossed over his chest. Now he desperately wanted to shove his fist into the other man’s smug face, but he knew he should let Merlin handle it. This wasn’t something he could solve with his fists, not unless they wanted to attract unwanted police attention.  

“Yeah, well I’m old, so go rest somewhere else.” Merlin snapped.

“Back off, Merlin. You know, you’re really becoming a grouch,” George said matter-of-factly, looking offended. But because he couldn’t argue, he shook his head and walked away.

As soon as the other man was out of sight, Merlin spun around and faced Gwaine, sticking out his lip in a pout, “Am I really a grouch?”

“Yeah, sometimes,” Gwaine nodded with an apologetic smile.

Gwaine ran his fingers through his hair and changed the subject, “It looks really slow tonight.”

“Yeah...” Merlin said, trailing off into silence. He didn’t speak for a few seconds. He was clearly uncomfortable, shifting his weight from foot to foot, picking at his cuticles, finally, he quietly mumbled, “Maybe we should think about joining Morgause’s service.”

“And then she’ll run our lives, take our money, no.” Gwaine said firmly.

He may be new to the streets, but he had heard Merlin’s argument against joining an escort service a dozen times. Had been there while he tried to convince their friends to ignore Morgause's seductive offer. This was just a moment of weakness, Merlin couldn’t be serious.

“You’re right,” the other man said, raising his chin. Locking eyes with Gwaine, he nodded his head once, “We say who, we say when, we say how much.”

Working the streets was a dangerous business. For the most part, things went according to plan. They got picked up, went to some dive motel, the John got off, and they got paid. But that didn’t mean it was all perfect. Both Merlin and Gwaine had had to fight their way out of nasty situations with a client that had gotten too rough or wanted them to do more than they’d originally agreed. It was easier for Gwaine, what he lacked in height he made up for in muscle and could easily take care of himself if things got physical. Merlin had also proven to be almost magical at getting out of tight situations, escaping with only minor physical injury. It was true, working for an escort service could provide them with more security from the cops or from physical violence - they put themselves in vulnerable position every time they got into a car with a John, but working on their own was their way of maintaining some kind of control over their lives. They could come and go as they pleased, and answered to no one but themselves.

But sometimes it was difficult to turn away from how easy it would be to work at the High Priestess with clients just lined up and waiting.

Gwaine was pulled from his thoughts by the tell-tale sound of a classic motor. But his excitement was derailed when he heard the horrifying assault on the transmission that nearly had him crying out in sympathy for the beautiful piece of machinery that was driving past. A bony elbow to the side finally pulled Gwaine out of his trance.

“That’s a Muira S.” Gwaine breathed in disbelief as the car passed and stopped at a nearby traffic light.

“No, that’s rent.” Merlin smirked, cocking an eyebrow, “with a car like that, this one’s all you. Go get ‘em tiger.”

“Are you sure?”

“Don’t take less than a hundred, call me when you’re through.” Merlin said, making it clear that he had no problem handing the potentially monumental score over to Gwaine, “Take care of you.”

“Take care of you.” Gwaine responded, in their usual parting ritual. Part tradition, part prayer, part warning, it was a final reminder to take care of themselves, even when they were separated. After wrapping the thinner man in a quick hug, Gwaine flipped his hair out of his face and he made his way over to the stopped car.

“Work it, work it baby, own it!” he heard Merlin call obnoxiously from behind him. Laughing, Gwaine spun around and gave him a quick smile before turning back around, his hips swinging a little more in response, his steps a bit lighter thanks to the encouragement.

Luckily for him, the window was already down. When he made it to the car, he leaned over to rest his forearms on the car door to get a better view, and show off his arms in the process. Maybe the night wasn’t going to be completely shit, Gwaine thought to himself as he caught  a glimpse of the gorgeous man behind the wheel.

“Hey sugar, you looking for a date?” he asked, leaning heavily on his accent the way Merlin had taught him.

“No, I’m looking for the Beverly Wilshire,” said the man, clearly trying to sound distracted. His eyes kept darting from the rearview mirror to the light, to the passers by on the sidewalk, “Can you give me directions?”

“Sure,” Gwaine said. It wasn’t the response he’d been hoping for, but he couldn’t dwell on that. As soon as he’d spoken, the driver finally made eye contact with him. Gwaine almost groaned, as if the car and that jawline weren’t enough, but even in the darkness of the night he could see the blue of the stranger’s eyes. Gwaine would almost considering giving this one a ride free of charge. Almost. All things considered, he wasn’t ready to give up on the situation yet. While he had the other man’s attention, he licked his lips and couldn’t help but smile as he caught the blue eyes flick down and linger, “for ten bucks.”

“Ridiculous,” the man balked, furrowing his brow in astonishment.

“The price just went up to twenty, princess.”

“You can’t charge me for directions.”

“I can do anything I want to, baby. I’m not lost.” Gwaine pushed off the car, and raised his arms over his head in a stretch that exposed a sliver of skin at his midsection. Spinning on his heels, he turned his back to the car and its pretentious driver.

“Alright, you win,” the man - or princess, as Gwaine decided to name him - huffed and rolled his eyes. Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled a bill out of his wallet, “Do you have change for a fifty?”

Gwaine almost laughed. He couldn’t believe his luck. Without a second thought, he’d opened the car door and sat down in the passenger’s seat.

“For fifty, I’ll show you myself, mate,” he said with a smirk, grabbing the bill out of the other man’s hand and slipping it smoothly into his pocket. “Just head down the street and make a right.”

Princess recovered quickly from the shock of suddenly finding himself with a passenger, turning his attention to the car. Gwaine was about to comment on the adorable frown that pulled at the corners of the other man’s lips, but before he could, both men winced as the gears ground against one another. After a few more painfully awkward moments, the car lurched forward.

As they sped through the light, all Gwaine could do was laugh. It clearly wasn’t the reaction his companion had been expecting, because his frown deepened as he shot Gwaine a pointed look, which only caused Gwaine to laugh even harder. Princess rolled his eyes and turned back to the road, obviously fighting a smile of his own.

Even though this wasn’t how his usual job started off, Gwaine still felt a glimmer of hope. Their bickering definitely bordered more on teasing than hostility, and could even turn into flirting. As they made their way down Hollywood Boulevard, Gwaine couldn’t continue to ignore the beautiful piece of machinery they were sitting in.

“This is a ‘68 Muira S,” he said excitedly, looking at the other man, only to watch in horror as the words didn’t seem to have any impact. Trying not to let the shock come out in his voice, he tried again. “A 1968 Lamborghini Muira S?”

Even with the clarification, he got nothing in response but a raised eyebrows and a masterfully condescending look, as if he was speaking a different language. When Princess didn’t respond, Gwaine threw out the small talk and go back to the teasing, which he had infinitely better luck with. “The color is a fucking shame though. Powder blue? Really?”

“It’s my uncle’s car.” came a chilly reply.  

“That’s a relief,” Gwaine laughed, “I would hope you have better taste.”

He raised his eyebrows suggestively when the other man flicked his eyes towards him. Gwaine wanted to keep things light, try to peek behind the posh mask.

“What’s your name?” Princess asked, not unkindly.

“What do you want it to be?” Gwaine responded, with a cocky smirk and a wink. He lasted only a few seconds under that imperious stare.

“Gwaine, my name is Gwaine” he conceded with a laugh. “Take a left here.”

The car lurched around the corner.

“On a good day, this thing must corner like it’s on rails.”

“Excuse me?”

“This. This beautiful piece of machinery. 12 cylinder engine, zero to sixty in about six seconds.” Gwaine shifted in his seat so he could face the other man better, “There were only a few hundred of these that came off the line.”

Princess just nodded, obviously more focused on trying to keep the car running than anything else. There was another round of grinding noises as he searched for the right gear. Gwaine couldn’t keep the pain off his face as the other man pulled down hard on the gear shift twice.

“So, is that accent real? Where did you grow up?”

“Dublin.” Gwaine said offhandedly but didn’t take his eyes off the gear shift. He finally couldn’t remain silent. “You know, I think you left your transmission back there. You’re not changing gear right. This is a standard H.”

“A standard H? As if I know what that means, my first car was a limousine.” Princess snapped,  “Have you ever driven a Lamborghini?”

“No,” Gwaine responded, shaking his head and trying to shrug off his embarrassment.

“You’re gonna start right now,” the stranger said as he’d already started pulling the car over to the side of the road.

“You’re joking.”

“No, it’s the only way I can get you to stop mocking me.”

“Not much chance of that, Princess. But it’s a good start!”

It only took them a few seconds to get out of the car and switch positions. Gwaine easily settled into the drivers seat and marveled at his luck. “Fasten your seat belts. I’m going to show you what this car can do. Are you ready?”

“I am ready.”

“Hang on,” Gwaine said as he sped off. The purr of the engine, the roar of power under his feet, caused a true smile to spread across his face. He took a sharp turn and whooped. It really did handle like a dream.

Even if nothing else happened tonight, Gwaine was having a hell of a time. And he wasn’t the only one who was feeling more at ease. Now that he wasn’t driving, the tension was draining out of the Princess. It was nice to see that the rod up his ass wasn’t a permanent fixture.

After a few blocks, Gwaine pulled his attention away from the car and back to the job, obviously the man felt comfortable with him, if he was willing to trust him enough to drive. But Gwaine needed to get him into bed.

“You know, Sinatra had one of these. So did Miles Davis, he was driving one when he crashed and broke both of his ankles.” he said, rubbing his hands lovingly on the wheel again. He looked over and found those blue eyes fixed on him again. After a few heartbeats, when the other man didn’t pick up the conversation, Gwaine figured he would fill the silence himself.

“I broke my ankle and my wrist once, you can still see the scar.” He extended his arm and put wrist directly in front of Princess’s face. The other man only laughed, but his eyes lingered on the skin in front of him. Turning his wrist over, so his palm was up, exposing the more sensitive skin, Gwaine said, “Did you know that the wrist is the most commonly broken body part in people under 75?”

“I didn’t.” Princess responded, almost breathless.

“Just a bit of trivia for you,” Gwaine murmured, eyes flicking over to find he was being watched again.

“What kind of money do you, guys, make these days?” Princess asked, actually stammering over his words. “Ballpark.”

“Can’t take less than two hundred.”

“A night?”

“For an hour.” Gwaine states firmly, not a hint that that was more than double his usual rate. If he had to, he’d drop the price and make Princess feel like he was getting a good deal. But judging by the car, the suit, their destination, and the way he had thrown around that fifty earlier, money wasn’t an issue.

“Two hundred an hour, you’ve got to be joking.”

“I never joke about money.”

“Two hundred an hour is pretty stiff.”

Without taking his eyes off the road, Gwaine reached over and slipped his hand between the other man’s legs and gave him a little squeeze feeling his cock begin to stiffen just slightly, “No, but it’s got potential.”

Princess looked over at him and raised his eyebrow again, and Gwaine laughed and took his hand away. The small smile that danced across the other man’s face told Gwaine everything he needed to know.

* * *

The hotel came too quickly for Gwaine. He could have circled the block a few more times, just to drive some more, but he needed to get down to business or try to find another John. 

Rent needed to be paid.

As they pulled up to the front, the valet jumped up and opened the passenger door, “Good evening, Mr. Pendragon. Will you be needing the car again tonight?”

“I hope not,” Princess laughed quickly.

Reluctantly pulling himself from the car, Gwaine walked to the sidewalk and handed over the keys. The valet gave him a once over before quickly averting his gaze and turning his attention to the car.

“So, you’re here.” he said, swinging his arms slightly. Now that they were out of the car, he couldn’t seem to figure out what to do with his limbs.

“Yeah,” Princess said, looking at him as if he were trying to put the pieces of a puzzle together. The seconds dragged on, before he added “So, you’ll be alright?”

“Oh yeah, I’ll catch a cab with that fifty.” Gwaine shrugged with a laugh, trying not to let his disappointment show, “See ya.”

“Bye.”

Turning around, Gwaine stuck his hands in his pockets and began to walk away. He glanced over his shoulder quickly and found Princess watching him. A smile pulled at the corners of his mouth, but he kept walking until he reached the bus stop. It wouldn’t do him any good to look back again, so he hopped up and sat down on the top of the bench. He wasn’t going to waste a cent when he could just take public transportation back to his street corner.

Resting his elbows on his knees, he bent his head and began running his fingers through his hair. He tried to ignore the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that only proved he’d wanted an invitation into that hotel much more than he’d originally thought.

“No taxis?” said a voice, close enough behind him to make Gwaine jump slightly.

“No, I like the bus.” The words were out of his mouth before he’d even acknowledged who it was that was asking. Shifting around to get a better look, a jolt of pleasant surprise shot through his system when he recognized the speaker.

“I was just thinking,” Princess said seriously, “did you really say two hundred dollars?”

“Yeah,” Gwaine murmured. Only his pride stopped him from giving in and throwing out the price tag all together.

“Yeah,” came the response, but it seemed like the other man was talking to himself more than to Gwaine.

From the way he was bouncing slightly on his toes and chewing on the inside of his cheek, it was clear Princess was wrestling with what to do next.

So Gwaine kept quiet and used the moment to send up a silent prayer to a deity he didn’t really believe in.  

Princess nodded once before saying, “Well, if you don’t have any prior engagements, I’d be very pleased if you’d accompany me into the hotel.”

“You got it.” Of course the other man would be proper enough to formally request his presence, even if he was paying for it. Gwaine almost rolled his eyes, but instead he winked and pushed himself off the bench, “What’s your name? Unless you want me to keep calling you Princess?”

“Arthur.”

“Arthur? Like King Arthur? That’s my favorite name in the whole world.”

“Oh, is it?”

“I tell you what, Arthur,” Gwaine said as they began walking towards the hotel doors, “this is going to be legendary.”

 


	3. Chapter 3

Arthur looked at him thoughtfully for a moment. It almost seemed like he was going to respond to Gwaine’s wit. But before the Princess could give in to Gwaine’s charm, those blue eyes traveled down Gwaine’s body again - lingering on the exposed skin of his chest and the low rise of his pants - and any hint of amusement washed away.

“Why don’t you put this on?” Without waiting for an answer, Arthur shrugged off his suit jacket and held it out for him to take.

But when Gwaine merely cocked his head instead of taking the offered piece of clothing, the Princess rolled his eyes and added, “This is not the kind of hotel that rents rooms by the hour.”

“Ah.” The prat didn’t want anyone getting the wrong idea, even if everything they thought would be true. But it didn’t bother Gwaine. He’d do whatever he need to to make Princess comfortable.

He slid the jacket on easily and was shocked to find that it almost fit. The shoulders were a bit tight, and it was a touch big in the waist, but if you didn’t look too closely, it could easily have been his.

Once Gwaine was situated, he turned to face Arthur and found himself being watched with a hungry intensity that he hadn’t seen on Arthur’s face before. His body began to heat as the other man took in the lines of the charcoal coat and the leather pants.

They walked into the lobby and his unexpected “holy shit” echoed off the marble floors and high ceilings. It drew a displeased look from an elderly couple sitting in the overstuffed chairs. Gwaine would have been happy heading straight to the room but Arthur stopped at the front desk to check if he had any messages. Gwaine rested against the wall, only half listening as the woman behind the desk began reading off names and numbers that meant nothing to him.

As their business wrapped up, Arthur turned and headed for the elevators, pulling Gwaine out of his haze. Without missing a step, Arthur turned his head slightly back towards the woman at the desk, “Would you also send up some champagne and strawberries?”

“Of course, Mr. Pendragon,” came the reply.

Gwaine gaped open-mouthed at the back of Arthur’s head. He had never met anyone who could ask questions that sounded so much like commands. Feeling sorry for the girl, Gwaine turned around and gave her his best wink, and laying on his accent heavily said, “Thank you, darling.”

Arthur stiffened slightly as he walked, only briefly glancing over his shoulder to add a quick,  “Yes, thank you.”

They rode the rest of the way in silence.

“Penthouse” the bellhop said when they reached the top.

“Oh ho ho, the penthouse,” Gwaine said mockingly as he swept out of the elevator with a flourish.

It only took a second for Arthur to get the door open, and despite himself, Gwaine was once again awestruck. Like the lobby, the rooms exuded money, all dark wood and clean lines, with state-of-the-art everything. Arthur headed straight in and sat down at a desk in the far corner, but Gwaine did quick lap around the “room” which was easily seven times the size of his apartment.

He wandered around both bedrooms, three bathrooms, full kitchen, dining room with a massive round table that could easily seat ten people, and two living rooms including the one housing the desk Arthur was now working at, the whole time letting off an almost unbroken string of expletives.

But as he finished, it was the wrap-around balcony that caught his attention. Gwaine rushed forward and slid open the floor-to-ceiling glass doors and strolling out into the night sky.

He felt like he was on top of the world.

They weren’t even in the tallest building around, they were only fourteen floors up, but the view of the city wasn’t something Gwaine saw very often. Sticking his head back into the suite, he yelled, “Princess, come look at this! You can see the entire city!”

“I’ll have to take your word for it.” Arthur didn’t even lift his eyes from the screen of his laptop to respond.

When it was clear that the other man had no intentions of getting up, Gwaine made his way over and sat on the desk, partially blocking Arthur’s view. When the blonde looked up, Gwaine gave him his best smile and ran his fingers up and over the curve of Arthur’s biceps.

“Oh, put the work away.” Lowering his voice, Gwaine leaned further into Arthur’s space.  “Why don’t we have a go out there? You can fuck me against the railing? I bet they’ll hear us all the way on the street.”

That got Arthur’s attention away from his work, at least for a second. He looked up at Gwaine, his brow furrowed slightly, and his jaw tightened. “I don’t like heights.”

“Seriously?” The question had flown out of Gwaine’s mouth before he realized how it might sound. But from the chillingly cold expression on Arthur’s face and the invisible wall that seemed to have immediately gone up, it was clearly the wrong one. Gwaine hadn’t thought about how big of an admission it actually was - clearly Arthur wasn’t the type to voice his fears easily. In an attempt to salvage whatever headway he’d made getting the princess out of his shell, Gwaine changed his tactic.  “Then why are you in the penthouse?”

“Because it’s the best,” Arthur said simply.

Gwaine looked around at the opulence of the room. He couldn’t argue.

Sliding off the desk, Gwaine held out his hands. Arthur raised an eyebrow before allowing himself to be pulled out of his seat. Gwaine kept a hold of the other man’s hands and walked backwards, until he could safely push the blonde back onto the cushions of the couch. Not wasting any time, he climbed onto Arthur’s lap, easily straddling those gorgeous thighs. Once he was settled, Gwaine waited to see where Arthur would take it from there. But when all the other man did was raise his other eyebrow, Gwaine ran a hand through Arthur’s hair and said, “Well, now that you have me here, what are you going to do with me?”

“I don’t have a clue.”

“No?”

“I didn’t actually plan this.“

“Do you plan everything?”

“Always.”

“That’s actually not surprising. Well, first things first then,” Gwaine said. Arching his back, he bent backwards and unzipped his boot. He laughed as he heard Arthur let out a hiss as the movement rubbed their partially hard cocks together. Situating himself back into a seated position, Gwaine held up the handful of condoms he’d pulled from his boot. Showing off each one in turn, he said, “I got red, I got green, I got yellow. I’m out of purple, but I do have one gold circle coin left, the condom of champions, nothing is getting past this sucker, what do you say?”

“A buffet of safety.”

“I’m a safety guy.” Gwaine shrugged, waving the condoms out in front of him for Arthur to choose.  

Arthur laughed and rested his head back on the couch, but made no move for the condoms.  So Gwaine took matters into his own hands. He’d never been with a John who waited so long to get down to business. Usually they had their pants off the moment the door closed.

“Let’s get one of these on you,” he said, dropping the condoms and reaching down between them to unhook Arthur’s belt.

“Wait,” Arthur said, pushing Gwaine’s hands away gently, “Why don’t we eat first?”

“Eat? Yeah. Okay,” Gwaine said, more than a little confused about the quick change of subject. The strawberries hadn’t arrived yet, but he wasn’t one to turn down food. Shifting his weight to a more comfortable position on Arthur’s lap, he wrapped his hands around Arthur’s neck, running his fingers through the soft blonde hair at the back of his neck. “Are you in town for business or pleasure?”

“Business. I think.”

“Let me guess, you’re a lawyer.” Gwaine began rolling his hip forward slowly, a shiver running through him at the friction.

To his credit, Arthur barely even acknowledged Gwaine’s attempt to speed up the process. But Gwaine wasn’t fooled, he could feel the other man’s cock hardening alongside his own. “Why do you think I’m a lawyer?”

“You’ve got that sharp, useless look about you.”

“I bet you’ve known a lot of lawyers,” Arthur said, his voice still steady even though his pupils were blown wide.

“I’ve known a lot of everyone.” Gwaine murmured into Arthur’s ear before kissing down the line of the other man’s neck.

A low moan rumbled in the back of his throat and Arthur tilted his head, exposing more of his neck. Gwaine took the hint and continued his way down the tight line of muscle, smiling as Arthur let out another pleased noise.

Gwaine couldn’t help but notice how tense Arthur was. It was like kissing solid stone. Yet with every press of his lips or nip of his teeth, Gwaine could feel the tension drain from the other man. This wasn’t something he usually did, giving this kind of attention. He wasn’t a masseuse after all, he was there to get the guy off as quick as possible and get back on the streets. But Gwaine found himself wanting to do whatever Arthur needed to feel good and loosen up a bit.

Arthur must have been more into it than Gwaine had originally thought, because he growled low and deep, and slid his hands around to cup Gwaine’s ass and pull him closer.

He was about to ask if they wanted to move to the bedroom, but was interrupted when the doorbell rang. Before the chime finished, Gwaine could see Arthur’s shoulders stiffen again, as if they’d never relaxed in the first place. For a moment, neither of them moved, but a knock on the door caused Arthur to stand up abruptly, and take Gwaine with him in the process. Once they were upright, their faces were only inches apart, so close that Gwaine could have easily leaned forward and kissed him. But that was out of the question. Trying to shake away the fog of lust that was still swirling around them, he pulling further away and placed his hand on Arthur’s chest and said, “You should get that.”

“Yeah,” Arthur murmured, snapping back to himself as well. He stepped away from Gwaine and headed towards the door.

In only took a minute for Arthur to reappear, but when he did, Gwaine was shocked to see him stroll back into the room followed by two men, both pushing carts loaded with plates covered with silver domes.

“Place them on the table,” Arthur said. He nonchalantly handing each of the men a folded bill before turning around and heading back to sit at his desk, without so much as a look at Gwaine.

The men quickly unloaded the cart, transferring the plates to the large table, revealing enough food to feed a small army and then left without a word. Gwaine was completely awestruck. He’d never seen so much food in one place, especially just for two people. When had Arthur ordered this? It must have been at the front desk when Gwaine wasn’t paying attention because all he had heard was the request for strawberries.

But now he was standing in front of everything he’d ever wanted to eat, and some things he, frankly, didn’t even know what they were but was more than willing to find out. The smells alone were absolutely intoxicating. Every nerve in his body was telling him to eat as much as he could, as quickly as possible.

“I didn’t know what you’d want, so I had them send up some of everything,” Arthur said off-handedly, somehow already engrossed in his computer.

“I appreciate this whole seduction thing you’ve got going on, but let me give you a tip. I’m a sure thing,” Gwaine said. “And I get paid on an hourly rate, so let’s get this thing going.”

“I’m sensing that this time thing is a major issue, so let’s just get that out of the way.”

“Great. Let’s get started.”

“How much for the whole night?”

“To stay here?” Gwaine paused for a moment, becoming uncomfortable, “You couldn’t afford it.”

“Try me.”

“Thousand dollars.”

“Done. Now we can relax.”

Gwaine ran a hand through his hair. What had he gotten himself into? He could always back out if things got too weird

“Sounds good to me.” he shrugged, stepping up closer to the table.  

“Want anything?”

“No, I have some pressing work to take care of before we -” Arthur trailed off, trying to cover his awkwardness with a cough.

Unfazed, Gwaine flipped his hair out of his face and made his way over to help himself. Loading up his own plate of food, he made sure to take a little bit of everything. He ran out of room before he could make it all the way around the table. There was still so much left, he would have to come back for a second trip. Which was fine with him, considering he hadn’t eaten anything except Taco Bell in days.   

It did feel strange to be the only one eating, so before returning to the living room, he put together a second dish. This time choosing only finger-food: mainly grapes, strawberries, a few pieces of bread, some cheese, and even a tiny apple pie.

Balancing both plates and the bottle of champagne, he headed towards the couch. Dropping his own plate down on the coffee table, he set the second plate down lightly on the desk next to Arthur, who was engrossed in his work. When he finally realized that Gwaine was standing next to him, he looked down at the plate then up at Gwaine, completely shocked.

“Thank you,” Arthur said, popping a grape into his mouth. “Please, make yourself comfortable. Any noise won’t bother me, if you’d like to watch something.”

Before settling back onto the ridiculously plush couch, Gwaine pulled his shirt off in one swift motion. Princess had said to make himself comfortable, and he really hated wearing clothes.

He quickly figured out how to work the television and nearly choked on his food when he found football - actual football - on. Yeah, it was a repeat of an earlier game, but considering he didn’t have a tv, and even if he did he wouldn’t be able to afford the premium channels, it was a very welcome sight.

Better yet, it was a close game, with Arsenal winning but only by a single score and giving Man U the chance to challenge for the win. Before he knew it, he’d finished his food and getting really into the game. Out of the corner of his eye, Gwaine had noticed Arthur watching the game - and him - every now and then. It wasn’t the kind of look that Gwaine was used to, it wasn’t that lusty leer that most of his clients gave him, this was something more fond and altogether more unsettling.

But Gwaine pushed it out of his mind, and focused on the tv. In the last minutes of the game, Gwaine became so engrossed that he didn’t notice when Arthur had come to sit next to him until the other man began screaming along with him.

As the game clock ran out, Gwaine fell back onto the couch, his legs spread wide and switched off the tv. Arthur leaned back on the couch and gave him that look, like Gwaine was some sort of puzzle he was trying to solve. He didn’t flinch under the look, but met it straight on.

After a moment, Arthur broke their eye contact and began slowly dragging his eyes down the entirety of Gwaine’s shirtless chest. There was a fire behind Arthur’s eyes that, so far, Gwaine had only seen hints of. But it was more than just how badly the other man wanted him, but the fact that Arthur was letting some of his guard down for the first time. The sight almost took his breath away. 

When Arthur’s eyes found his again, Gwaine returned his heated gaze. He had long ago learned the value of eye fucking, and was impressed to find out that Arthur was an expert as well. Without a word, and without breaking the eye contact, Gwaine slid off the couch and onto the floor, positioning himself between Arthur’s knees. He slowly loosened the other man’s tie and slowly unbuttoned his shirt. As the last button came undone, Gwaine sat back on his heels and took a moment to take in the view. Turned out Princess was just as fit as he appeared to be.  

He turned his attention to unwrapping the rest of the present laid out in front of him. He made quick work of the belt and unzipped his trousers.

“What do you want?”

“What do you do?”

“Everything.” Gwaine said easily, he wasn’t usually that unrestricted, but for how much Arthur was paying, it only seemed fair that he got some special treatment. There was, however, one rule that he wouldn’t break for anyone. “But I don’t kiss on the mouth.”

“Neither do I.”

This is going to work out perfectly, he thought.

He kissed down Arthur’s perfectly toned chest. He almost smiled when the other man settled deeper into the couch, spreading his legs wider and canting his hips. Making it clear what he wanted.

Gwaine happily pulled out Arthur’s mostly hard cock, with each breath he felt any uncertainty or awkwardness of the evening fade away. This? This was his territory. His solid ground. And he was in control.

With a quick glance at those blue eyes, Gwaine smiled and wrapped his lips around Arthur’s shaft, his tongue dancing back and forth over the tip. With each flick, he could feel the already impressive length harden and grow. But he refrained from moving his head, content to tease, to break down that controlled facade.

Arthur was still silent, but when Gwaine felt fingers sink into his hair he knew it was working. Giving up his playful taunting, he opened his throat and sank down until he felt the head of Arthur’s cock press the back of his throat. Gwaine let out a low hum, watching as Arthur’s eyes fluttered shut and his head fell back to rest on the back of the couch.

He was forced to pull back slightly as a smile pulled at his lips and the hum turned into a deep chuckle.

At the sound, Arthur’s head snapped up and he shot a glare down at Gwaine. He supposed it was meant to look threatening. But to Gwaine it only encouraged him. With a wink, he pulled back applying the perfect amount of suction and a graze of his teeth, watching as the annoyed look was replaced in a wave of pleasure.

Setting up a slow rhythm, he kept the torturous pace until Arthur’s fingers had tightened into a fist and his hips began to twitch, searching for more friction.

“Gwaine,” Arthur growled, his voice more wrecked than he probably would have liked.

Pulling back, he rubbed his thumb over his lips and smirked, “What is it, Princess?”

“Bedroom. Now.”

A laugh bubbled out of Gwaine as he hopped to his feet and extended a hand to the debauched man in front of him. “Want me to carry you in my arms like a blushing maiden?”

“You wish,” Arthur said, kicking off the trousers and pants that had pooled at his feet, “Get over here.”

Sauntering forward, Gwaine began peppering kisses along the line of Arthur’s jaw, down to his neck as soon as he was in reach. When the other man bent his head to give him better access, Gwaine took the invitation. Pressing his body even closer, he pushed Arthur’s shirt off of his shoulders and leaving him completely naked. “Yes, sir.”

“Now that’s more like it.” Arthur purred, “Now get those off.”

It was clear the prat had a thing for control, something Gwaine would be happy to indulge - after he tested the limits a bit. So instead of doing as he was told, he twisted his hips so the other man had easy access to his zipper, “Come and get it.”

Whatever Gwaine had been expecting Arthur to do, he wasn’t ready to find himself upside down, and draped over the other man’s shoulder. “This isn’t exactly what I had in mind.”

“Who's the maiden now?” Arthur huffed as he made his way towards the bedroom.

“Nice view,” Gwaine said, swatting playfully at the deliciously round and surprisingly perky ass in his face.

Before he knew it, he was being unceremoniously deposited on a ridiculously comfortable bed and Arthur was peeling off Gwaine’s leather pants.

“Flip over. On your knees.”

It was the first command Arthur had given that Gwaine had no urge to ignore.

It only took him a second to get into the position he knew Arthur wanted. Ass in the air, completely on display, Gwaine was in his element.

But apparently so was Arthur.

“Nice view,” Arthur almost growled, echoing Gwaine words from only moments before but the tone was very different.

He may have been tempted to make a witty retort, if he hadn’t been preoccupied by controlling the barely suppressed shiver that ran through him. Turning his head, he silently tracked the other man as he moved around the room. Arthur’s eyes were hungry in a way that Gwaine had only seen glimpses of before.  

Slowly circling the bed, Arthur made his way to the nightstand and pulled out a small bottle of lube and a condom. Gwaine barely noticed as his heart had jumped into his throat, so mesmerized by the way Arthur’s muscles shifted in the half light and the sheer confidence that radiated off of him.

He felt the bed dip as Arthur knelt behind him and ran his hands down Gwaine’s back and over the curve of his ass, then back up towards his shoulders. The stubborn fingers completely avoiding everywhere that Gwaine desperately wanted them to go. The teasing contact nearly pulled a whimper from Gwaine, who opened his legs wider, practically begging for it. His whole body felt like it was on fire, waiting to be touched, wanting to be used, wanting more.

And with each pass of Arthur’s hands, that desire only grew. It was something Gwaine hadn’t felt in a very long time. He had always loved sex. Which was why his current situation wasn’t all that bad.

But to have this?

With a client?

That was something completely new.

Kneeling there, painfully hard and practically begging, he couldn’t remember when this had stopped feeling like a job. Not that it really mattered, it was just nice that for once, he didn’t have to pretend.

Because God, he wanted it.

So when Arthur finally slid a slick finger past the tight ring of muscle and into Gwaine, there was no containing the low moan the shook out of his throat.

Gwaine could almost feel Arthur smiling as he started kissing his way down Gwaine’s spine, while coaxing him to relax. As a second finger was added, the drag of teeth joined the gentle press of lips down his back. With every moment, Arthur masterfully navigated the line between pain and pleasure, leaving love bites down Gwaine’s back while two fingers worked in and out of his body.

“Arthur” Gwaine whimpered.

“Yes?”

But before Gwaine could respond, Arthur simultaneously nipped sharply at the tendon of his neck and grazed his prostate.

“Fuck me.”

“What was that?” Arthur asked, feigning innocence again and pressing against that bundle of nerves and sending another shiver through Gwaine, “I couldn’t hear you.”

“I said, Fuck me, Princess. Fuck. Me. Now.” Gwaine growled, rocking his hips back and grinding down on Arthur’s fingers to punctuate each word.

A wicked laugh was the only warning he had, before he found himself distressingly empty. Luckily he didn’t have to wait long for Arthur to slide on the condom and grab his hips and manhandle him into the best position. After that, it only took a few moments for Gwaine to be smiling into the comforter, as the easy slide of Arthur’s cock filled him, inch by inch.

Gwaine had thought that Arthur’s cock had been impressive when he’d taken it into his mouth, but by the time he finally stopped pushing forward? Well, if Gwaine hadn’t been a professional, he wouldn’t have been able to resist coming then and there just from the sensation of finally being so perfectly full.

But, as Arthur started moving, even Gwaine’s well-trained restraint was pushed to its limits and he was forced to work his hand under him and grip the base of his cock and squeeze until he could control himself.

With his head cleared, Gwaine resettled himself and fisted his hands in the comforter. He used the new leverage to rock his hips back just as Arthur thrust forward. Both men moaned, their voices blending together as they echoed off the walls.

“Fuck,” Arthur groaned, tightening his grip on Gwaine’s hips. “Do that again.”

“Oh Princess, you have no idea how good I can feel.”

“Show me.”

That was another command he could happily follow.

Arching his back, Gwaine began rolling his hips to match each of Arthur’s movements. As they picked up speed, the slap of skin on skin joined their moans, filling the room and everything - time, thought, worry - slipped away.

When Arthur reached around and began stripping Gwaine’s cock, the world whited out as his orgasm slammed through him. Through his own pleasure, Gwaine was able to feel Arthur pulsing deep inside of him.

It took a few moments for the world to stop spinning and both of their breathing to return to normal. But eventually Arthur pulled out and nonchalantly wiped his hand on the comforter as he stood up.

“Don’t you care about the people who have to clean in here?” Gwaine asked, shifting so he was standing on the other side of the bed.

“They’re well paid,” he shrugged.

“I don’t care how much you’re paying me, I’m not sleeping in that.”

“Good think it’s on the top of the covers then.” Arthur said with a small smile, before he flipped back the comforter.

Crawling into the offered bed, Gwaine easily settled into the ridiculously soft sheets. He felt the bed dip as Arthur slid in as well, but they stayed on separate sides of the bed. Princess wasn’t really the cuddly type.

“Wake me when you want another go?” Gwaine mumbled.

But sleep overtook him and the world faded away before he heard Arthur’s response.


	4. Chapter 4

Arthur was jealous how quickly Gwaine fell asleep. Normally it was a chore for him to fall asleep at all, let alone with someone new sharing his bed. As soon as he heard Gwaine’s breath even out and was certain his movement wouldn’t wake the other man, Arthur got up and headed for the shower.

Rather surprisingly, it wasn’t because he felt dirty. He always figured he’d feel a bit nasty after sleeping with a rent boy. But, rather surprisingly, that wasn’t the issue. No, in this case, he just wanted something to do. There was still an hour or so before the sun rose and he needed to kill some time.

He stepped into the streams of water and tried to relax. The water pressure left something to be desired, but at least there were enough shower heads to fully surround him. He could have changed the settings on the nozzles, but there were so many and it probably wouldn’t be worth it in the long run.

As he went through the motions of showering, Arthur started running through everything that needed to be done for that day; prioritizing which stocks needed to be checked, which deals needed attention, and most importantly, working out how quickly he could close the Gawant deal and make it back to London.

He hoped Gwaine would wake up soon. The thought flew through his head before he had time to realize what it meant. He was usually indifferent to everyone, and much more content with his own thoughts than with anyone else. But there was something about Gwaine that almost felt right. Shaking his head, Arthur chalked it up to the fact that he had made the right decision about needing a bit of a release, no strings attached.

He shifted his attention back to his earlier train of thought. Gawant. Work. Those were things that actually needed to be sorted out. Not the magnetism of a particular man.

* * *

By the time he was out of the shower and slipped into a clean pair of trousers, he had a battle strategy planned for the day. He normally would have gotten dressed, but he was comfortable without his shirt and he didn’t want to wake Gwaine just yet.

There were still a few hours before he could go into the office, so the next logical step was to get as much work done in the hotel as he could. Especially considering he hadn’t gotten nearly enough done the night before.

It should have been easy for him to fall into a work rhythm. But after an hour, he was still struggling to respond to even the most simple of the the small mountain of emails that had arrived during the night.

Frustrated, he slammed his laptop shut. The noise echoed throughout the apartment, causing him to flinch and listen to hear if he’d woken his guest. When he heard no sound of the other man moving around, Arthur let out a tense breath, only slightly disappointed.

Running a hand through his now dry hair, Arthur tried to figure out what to do next. His usual  morning routine was in shambles. Usually he’d have been to the gym already, but he didn’t want to leave the room.

Maybe he’d order food. He didn’t usually eat breakfast, preferring just coffee or tea to get his day started. But if last night was any indication, Gwaine loved eating and there was nothing he wouldn’t eat. Just to be safe, Arthur picked up the room phone and ordered everything on the menu. Again.

It was a bit excessive, but as much as he hated to admit it, he got a great deal of pleasure from watching Gwaine’s reaction to food. Arthur had the sneaking suspicion that the other man didn’t even realize that he made almost obscene noises when he ate something delicious. It had been so distracting the night before that Arthur had had no choice but to join him on the couch. It was very endearing. It was a small price to pay, especially because Arthur could afford it.

When the food eventually arrived, Arthur poured himself a cup of coffee and settled down at one of the chairs around the table. He had just opened the paper to pass some more time before his guest woke up when his phone began to vibrate. He glanced at the display and quickly answered.

“Hello Uncle.”

“Godwyn Gawant wants to fight us,” Agravaine said without preamble.

“Of course he does.” Arthur had expected something like this, now that he was in LA. He had known this deal was going to be the best kind of challenge. Gawant had a sense of pride that he could relate to. “His name’s been on the stationary for years, I don’t think he’s ready to give that up.”

“He wants to meet with you face to face, but I would advise you against it.”

“Thank you for your opinion, Uncle, but set it up. Tonight. Dinner. ”

“Arthur, I don’t think that’s wise. Definitely not alone. He’s a clever old man. One wrong word and we’ll end up in court.” Agravaine said. It was a tone that his uncle had been using with him since he was a child, condescension thinly veiled as advice.  And it made Arthur’s skin crawl.  

“I have it under control.” He could feel his jaw tightening as every moment passed. He hadn’t even had his tea yet. Maybe it was because he hadn’t had his tea yet, or Gwaine was already wearing off on him, but Arthur added, “By the way, Uncle, about your car.”

“What is it?” The panic clear in his voice.

“It corners like it’s on rails.”

“What does that even mean? Arthur? Arthur?”

But instead of explaining, he hung up phone. With a smug smile, Arthur opened his newspaper.

Hearing a noise behind him, Arthur turned to find himself looking at a disheveled and shirtless Gwaine, his hair was sticking every which way. Arthur found it incredibly endearing, not that he would ever say such a thing aloud.

“You didn’t wake me.” He was standing in the middle of the room, shifting from foot to foot, clearly feeling awkward, “and it’s clear you’re busy, so I’ll be out of here.”

“There’s no hurry. Are you hungry? After last night, you must be.” The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. To his horror, Arthur felt his cheeks redden. Trying to regain his composure, he rose to his feet and pulled out a chair. “I ordered everything. “

Apparently Arthur’s discomfort was enough to pull the other man out of his haze, because Gwaine chuckled and took the offered chair.

Arthur shook his head and sat back down and watched as the other man loaded his plate with everything he could reach. Without warning, Gwaine looked up at Arthur, a look of concern on his face as he asked, “Did you sleep?”

“A little, on the couch,” Arthur lied with a shrug and turned back to his newspaper. Hopefully Gwaine would let it go, he hated when people made a big deal about his sleeping habits. It inevitably led to an uncomfortable discussion that ended in some sort of pity or fake concern.  

“So. You don’t sleep. You barely eat. What do you do?”

“I buy companies.”

“What kind of companies?”

Arthur looked up, surprised by the question. To give Gwaine credit, he actually sounded interested. Usually people started tuning out whenever he mentioned the nature of his work. “I buy companies that are in financial difficulty.”  

Gwaine was quiet for a few seconds, pouring himself some tea, his brow furrowed in thought. “If they have problems, you must get them cheap? Yeah?”

Arthur was once again surprised, even if he didn’t let it show. The man had a sound mind for business, or could at least begin to grasp the larger concepts. Going back to his paper, Arthur said, “Well, the company I’m acquiring this week I’m getting for the bargain basement price of one billion.”

It got the response he was expecting. Gwaine, whose mouth was full of food, choked slightly. “A billion dollars?” he said weakly, still trying to recover from the shock.

“Yes.”

“Wow.”

The response was sincere and almost sounded impressed. Arthur expected some kind of snarky comment, but the figure seemed to have quieted the man as he turned back to eating. The silence that grew between them was, surprisingly comfortable.

But rather unsurprisingly, Gwaine picked up a mindless string of chatter about the quality of the food and the difference between food in England and the States. Arthur continued to read his paper, only half listening and trying to ignore the how content he felt with Gwaine around.

As he finished and Gwaine had demolished a shockingly large amount of food, Arthur pushed himself away from the table and walked into the closet to get dressed. To his surprise, Gwaine followed him straight into the walk-in closet that was attached to the master bedroom.

After a few seconds of staring, open-mouthed at the rows of clothes, Gwaine burst into hysterical laughter, “You really are a princess, aren’t you?”

The brunette fell into the plush chair that was in the corner of the closet, his legs obscenely far apart again. As he laughed, the lines of his muscles stood out even more.

All in all, it was extremely distracting. Before he realized it, Arthur had calculated how much time he had before he needed to be in the office and was disappointed to realize there wasn’t enough time for another round. He would have to be satisfied with the memories of the night before.

If the glint in Gwaine’s eye was anything to go by, he knew exactly where Arthur’s mind had gone. Coughing, he turned around tried to focus on the task at hand. He quickly picked out which suit he was going to wear, one that would work for both a day at the office and his meeting with Gawant afterwards. He was just picking a tie when Gwaine spoke again.

“You don’t make anything?”

“No.”

“You don’t build anything?”

“No.”

“What do you do once you’ve bought the companies?”

“Sell them.”

“You sell them?”

Arthur was so taken aback by all the questions that hadn’t realized that he’d stopped mid-knot until Gwaine stood up and pushed into Arthur’s personal space and batted his hands away. With a small smile, Gwaine took over for him. “I don’t sell the whole company, I break that up into pieces worth more than the whole.”

“Sort of like stealing cars and selling them for the parts?”

Arthur was again shocked at how quickly the other man picked up the information. Sliding his hands into his trouser pockets, he watched the concentration of Gwaine’s face as he worked on Arthur’s tie. Their faces were only inches apart, but he was itching to close the distance between them. But that was against the rules. Realizing he’d never responded to Gwaine’s question, Arthur quickly said, “Yes, sort of. But legal.”

“Done.” Gwaine said, smoothing down the fabric. The end result was a bit looser than he usually wore it, but for some reason he liked it. Arthur reluctantly took a step back and slid on his suit jacket.

“Mind if I take a swim in your tub before I go?”

“Not at all,” Arthur said as he made his way out of the room. When he reached the doorway he smiled and shot Gwaine a look and added, “Just stay in the shallow end.”

Gwaine’s laugh followed him all the way into the living room, but Arthur didn’t have time to dwell on it, he was interrupted by his phone vibrating in his pocket.

“What is it, Uncle?”

“You’re all set for tonight, but he’s bringing his daughter. She’s his sole heir. I don’t like you going alone. Are you sure Vivian can’t make it? It would be better if you went with a date. To help keep things social. I know plenty of nice women - ”

Arthur hated when his uncle was right. Having someone with him would make things easier. He was about to accept Agravaine’s offer when his train of thought was interrupted by a particularly off key impersonation of a guitar riff coming from the somewhere down the hall.  

“I have a date.” The words were out of his mouth before he had time to think. But he didn’t want to deal with answering the slew of questions he knew would be coming, so Arthur hung up the phone.

Pulling his thoughts together, Arthur walked to the bathroom. When he pushed open the door, he couldn’t help but smile. Leaning on the door frame, Arthur watched Gwaine lounging with his eyes shut in the master bathroom’s oversized tub. He was up to his chin in bubbles and bobbing his head and singing along with one of the classic rock music channels that was playing on the television above the bathtub.

“Don’t you knock?” Gwaine asked, opening his eyes and smiling up at Arthur.

“Gwaine, I have a business proposition for you.” Arthur said, ignoring the rush of affection he felt for the man. “I’m going to be in town until Sunday and I’d like you to spend the week with me.”

“Really?”

“Yes, I’d like to hire you as an employee.” The other man had been so quick to accept all of his other offers, Arthur hadn’t expected anything different. “I’ll pay you to be at my beck and call.”

“Look, I’d love to be your beck and call boy,” Gwaine switched off the telly and shifted to face Arthur. “But you’re a rich, sexy man. you could get a date for free.”

“I want a professional.” Arthur replied easily, “I don’t need any romantic hassles this week.”

“It’s gonna cost ya.”

“Yes of course, give me a ballpark figure.”

“Six full nights, and days too?” Gwaine said, counting on his fingers, his brow furrowed in thought. After a moment he looked back up ar Arthur, a smile on his face, “Twelve thousand.”

“Hold on, at a thousand a night, that’s six thousands.”

“You want days too.”

“Alright, eight thousand.” Arthur said. He really didn’t care, but this was fun.

“Ten,” Gwaine countered, a smile pulling on the corners of his mouth.

“Deal.”

The look on Gwaine’s face was priceless when he realized what he had just agreed to. His eyes were huge and Arthur probably could have counted the the other man’s teeth if he really tried, his smile was so big.

“Holy shit!” he yelled, before sinking under the water.

“Gwaine? Is that a yes?” Arthur asked with a laugh.

When the other man eventually came up for air, his hair was in his face and there were bubbles sticking to his beard. But he managed a spluttering, but happy sounding, “Yes!”

Arthur nodded and turned on his heels, leaving Gwaine to his bath.

* * *

Arthur technically should have been in the office already, but he found himself dragging his feet, taking his time in hopes that he would be able to talk to his companion some more before leaving for the day.

He was finishing a cup of tea when he heard Gwaine enter the room. But choked on the last sip when he saw that the other man was wearing nothing but a towel around his waist, and still glistening from his time in the bath.

Coughing he handed Gwaine a small bundle of cash for the previous night and one of his spare credit cards saying, “I’ll be gone most of the day. Go buy some clothes, we’ll be going out evenings.”

“So what should I get?”

“Nothing flashy, or too sexy. Conservative.”

“Boring.” Gwaine said, raising an eyebrow.

“Refined.” Arthur corrected.

Gwaine held his hands up in concession, before adding, “Can I still call you Princess?”

“Not if you expect me to answer,” Arthur said with a laugh.

He turned his back to the other man and headed for the door, his steps lighter than they’d been in a long time. From behind him, he heard Gwaine, closer than he’d expected.

“I would have stayed for six thousand.”

“I would have paid for twelve.” Arthur replied, looking over his shoulder. It was a truth he hadn’t originally planned on sharing.

Gwaine ran a hand through his hair, and said, “I’m gonna treat you so nice, you’re never gonna want to let me go.”

“Ten thousand, six days.” Arthur opened the door, and gave Gwaine a tight smile, “And Gwaine, I will let you go.”

* * *

He walked into the meeting precisely on time, the conference room fell silent as soon as his presence was known. Gwaine had kept him on his toes all night and morning, but this was where he was completely sure-footed and confident. They were gathered to talk about acquiring Gawant Shipping Yard. The deal was mainly to buy the land, it was prime real estate. The shoreline property was worth far more than the company that was sitting on it.

“What news do we have?” Arthur asked as a way of starting the meeting.

Leon, one of the most dependable people on Arthur’s staff spoke first, “This morning, we received reports that Gawant is on the inside track for a 500 million dollar government contract to build destroyers for the Navy.”

Before Arthur could respond, Agravaine glared at Leon and spat, “I thought they had nothing going for them? You said they had no prospects.”

“If that’s true, this could cost a lot more. The stock will go through the roof,” said someone to Arthur’s left.

“We have over a thousand man hours on this, we’re not walking away,” Agravaine stated.

And suddenly, everyone was talking at once. This was not the way Arthur ran a meeting. Holding up a hand to get everyone’s attention, Arthur said, “Everyone, relax.”

Just as when he’d initially entered the room, everyone went silent. They all knew that Arthur had a plan, and he would get them through this.  

“Elyan, who do we know in the senate appropriations committee? The Navy isn’t going to spend 350 million on anything without going through appropriations. We can cut Gawant off at the pass.”

He spent the meeting putting out fires, navigating potential emergencies, and delegating duties. There was a lot to get done, and not much time to do it.  But every now and then, he would catch a smile floating across his face as his mind would drift to the man he knew would be waiting for him at the end of the day.

 


	5. Chapter 5

As soon as he heard the doors click shut, Gwaine jumped in the air and whooped. He’d been holding in his excitement, but now that he was alone, there was no need. He ran back into the bedroom and fell onto his back on the bed.

“Ten thousand dollars!” he breathed in amazement, looking up at the ceiling.

After a moment, Gwaine reached for the room phone and quickly dialed Merlin. Mainly because he needed to check-in so his friend didn’t worry, and he really needed to brag. A sleepy voice greeted him, but Gwaine plowed on, too excited to apologize for the early hour.  “Merlin. The guy, the car. The Muira. He’s paying me ten thousand to stay with him for the week.”

“You lucky bastard. I can’t believe I gave that guy to you! Ten thousand?” Merlin howled, all the sleepiness instantly disappearing from his voice. Then sobering a bit, he added, “Is he twisted?”

“Nope.”

“Ugly?”

“He’s hot as hell.”

“What’s wrong with him?”

“Nothing.”

“Did he give you the money yet?”

“End of the week.”

“That’s what’s wrong then.”

“He already gave me a thousand for last night,” Gwaine countered. He was quickly getting tired of Merlin trying to find something wrong with this opportunity. Even if he knew that it was just out of concern for him, which was absurd, because Merlin had his own issues to worry about. Gwaine looked down at the cash in his hand, and knew that it was his turn to return the favor for all the times his friend had pulled him out of the gutter. “Merls, I’m gonna leave some of the cash at the front desk for you.  I’m at the Beverly Wilshire. Pay the rent. Pay Morgause.”

“Got it. I even wrote it down,” Merlin said, the sleepiness creeping back into his voice.

“One more thing, where do I go for the clothes?” Gwaine asked

“In Beverly Hills?”

“Yeah.”

“Rodeo drive, baby!”

* * *

Gwaine had lived in Los Angeles for just over two years, but Rodeo Drive was unlike anything he’d ever seen. It was a playground for the rich and famous. Everything was clean and crisp, he took in all of the white buildings and pastel people, loving the fact that he had money in his pocket. Palm trees lined the road, every obscenely expensive car Gwaine had ever heard of passing by, and men and women dressed in clothes worth more than he could make in a month on the streets. Gwaine could tell that he stood out, but he didn’t really care. He’d thought about wearing some of Arthur’s extra clothes, to fit in, but in the end he’d felt more comfortable in his leather and low cut tank than dressed up in some half-assed imitation of his new employer.

He walked past row upon rows of shops, with names he’d only heard mention of and some he could barely pronounce. After a while, he found one that looked like it specialized in men’s clothes. He’d been brushing off nasty looks all morning - from the women at the hotel desk to the people who passed him by on the street - so he wasn’t surprised when the salesmen looked at him like he had some sort of plague.

Shrugging his shoulders, he began browsing, mindlessly running his fingers over the sorts of fabrics he’d only ever taken off of his clients.

“May I help you?” a voice sneered behind him.

“Just looking,” Gwaine responded offhandedly, continuing to peruse.  He hoped that the other man would take the hint and leave him alone. But apparently his luck had run out, because as Gwaine took a few paces away, the salesmen followed him closely, breathing down his neck.

“Are you looking for something in particular?” The man - Kay, if his nametag was correct - asked, solidifying Gwaine’s fear that he wouldn’t be left alone.

“Yeah, something conservative.” Gwaine said with a heavy sigh as he decided to bow to the inevitable. Pointing to one of the mannequins, he added, “How much is this?”

“I don’t think we have that in your size.”

“I didn’t ask if it would fit,” Gwaine said bluntly. Channeling a little bit of Arthur’s demeanor, he straightened his shoulders, stating, “I asked how much it was.”

Without taking his eyes off of Gwaine, Kay raised his voice and called to his fellow salesman that was standing a few yards away but had been silently watching the whole interaction. “How much is this Owaine?”

“It’s very expensive,” he said, arms crossed over his chest, condescension dripping off of every word.

“Look, I got money to spend in here.” Now his temper was beginning to boil.

“I don’t think we have anything for you,” moving closer to the other salesman “You’re obviously in the wrong place, please leave.”

It was probably a good thing that Kay moved out of arm’s reach, because Gwaine honestly didn’t know if he would have been able to stop himself from smacking the smarmy, self-satisfied smirk off of his face. He could deal with them turning their noses up or following him around a store, but he would not stand by and let them mock him to his face. But the thought of letting Arthur down, and forcing him to come bail him out was enough for him to hold back. He clenched his fists and spun around on his heels, flipping his hair out of his face he plowed through the door and back onto the street.

But all of the glamour and luster that had been so bright and exciting only moments before  suddenly felt harsh and cold. It was too loud. Now when he saw passers-by follow him with their eyes, it made his skin crawl. He wanted to scream or punch something. Or both. But he shoved his hands in his pockets, tilted his head down and marched his way back to the hotel.

Blowing past the doormen he had almost made it to the elevator when he realized that he had forgotten to bring a key. Cursing under his breath, he went to the front desk.

Mustering what small amount of charm he could, he rested his elbows on the counter, “I seem to have forgotten my key.”

“Can I get your name and room number?” The young gentleman asked, clearly skeptical.

Gwaine was really getting tired of this. “I’m staying with the guy up on the top floor. Ask the guy in the elevator. He’ll remember.”

He simply looked at him and raised an eyebrow, his fingers hovering over the computer keys.

“I’m staying with Arthur ….,” his brow furrowed, but for the life of him, he couldn’t remember the other man’s last name.

“Pendragon?” asked a gorgeous, if severe, looking woman who appeared at his elbow.

“Yeah, Pendragon, that’s it.” Gwaine said bouncing on the balls of his feet. “I’m staying with Arthur Pendragon.”

But the man behind the desk must not have heard him. All of his attention was focused on the woman standing next to him. And by the size of his eyes, he was petrified.

“I’ll take care of this,” the woman said, digging her perfectly manicured nails into the muscle of his biceps and pulling him away from the counter.

Her heels clacked along the marble floors, as she nearly drug him across the lobby. In her wake, he could finally get a look at her. She was tall and thin, built like a model, with dark hair flowing out behind her. Fierce was an understatement, she was downright scary.

When they reached the elevators, the doors opened as soon as she stepped up to them, as if by magic. Gwaine opened his mouth to make a comment to that effect, but a severe look from his captor silenced him.

When they reached the room, the woman pulled out a key and marched in like she owned the place. Hell, as far as he knew, she did. As soon as the door shut behind them, she whipped around and pinned him to the door with a hand on in the center of his chest. If he hadn’t been so shocked, Gwaine may have been a bit turned on. Whoever this was, she was strong.   

“Who are you?”

“I’m his cousin,” Gwaine said, with more confidence than he rightly should have been able to muster.

“I highly doubt that,” she snapped, “I’m his sister, I think I know all of our cousins.”

Gwaine fumbled for a response, but she cut him off waving his splutters off with an imperious wave of her hand.

“What is your name?”

“Whatever you want it to be, darling.” A crooked smile pulling at the corner of his mouth.

“Don’t play with me.”

“Gwaine.”

“Well, Gwaine, I’m assuming you’re here because you forgot something. So, whatever it was, find it and be on your way.” She took a step forward, in her heels she was actually slightly taller than him. It was the venom in her voice, more so than the hand at his chest that kept Gwaine pinned in place. “I will not see my brother’s reputation destroyed by some male prostitute throwing his name around the hotel lobby. Now, go.”

She took a step back and released him, but her gaze never faltered. Gwaine stayed where he was, not withering under the look, but still unable to brush it off either. This woman, whoever she was, was only trying to protect her brother and he could respect that.

“I can’t go.”

“What?”

“I have to stay.” Gwaine was going to leave it there, but all of the emotion of the morning  welled up and suddenly he was talking uncontrollably, “What I really need is to have something to wear for this fancy dinner tonight with Arthur and some guy. And I tried to go get clothes, down on Rodeo Drive, and those little shits wouldn’t help me. The fuckheads wouldn’t even let me alone to shop in peace, just pushed me out of the damn store. Now I have Princess’s card with all this money on it and I have nothing.  Not that I think you’ll help me, I don’t even fucking know your name, but he’s expecting me.”

Her brow furrowed further as he finished talking, crossing her arms over her chest. “Let me see his card,” she said.

Gwaine fished it out of his pocket and handed it to her. She examined it carefully before pulling her phone out of her purse.

Panic ran through him. If she was calling the cops, he was completely screwed. Taking a step forward, he was stopped in his tracks when she held up a hand.

“Men’s fashion. This is Morgana Pendragon. My cousin needs an outfit for a business dinner tonight. We’re coming down right now.”

* * *

Gwaine had no idea which shop they were in, but as soon as Morgana stepped through the door every sales person was tripping over themselves to help her and by extension, him. She had them bring out champagne and finger sandwiches for them to snack on while they brought out suit after suit. It was like their own personal fashion show. After the first bottle, Morgana started to loosen up, a wicked glint in her eye as she told Gwaine stories about her and Arthur’s childhood.

“That one.” Morgana said, the moment the model came into view. There was no doubt in her voice and Gwaine certainly wasn’t going to argue with her, even if it looked like every other suit that they’d seen. But obviously Morgana saw something about it that she liked.

As if magic words had been spoken, everyone was suddenly in motion again. Gwaine was pulled forward and placed on a pedestal as his measurements were taken by a team of men who may have been more handsy than they needed to be. Morgana, once she knew things were under control, disappeared with Arthur’s credit card on a quest to find proper shoes and a tie. When she returned, she was being followed by three assistants, their arms filled with bags.

When she saw the shocked look on Gwaine’s face, Morgana let out a laugh, “Only that one’s yours. It’s got everything you’ll need. Shoes, tie, socks, watch, cufflinks, sunglasses, everything. Except the suit, that has to be tailored. They’re going to send that up to your room when it’s finished. The rest of these are just a few things that caught my eye. Arthur forgot my birthday, so he owes me.”

Gwaine couldn’t help but laugh. Despite their rocky start, he liked Morgana. Maybe once Princess left he could convince her to give him a try. It was clear that she spent a lot of time in LA, considering she knew everyone in the store by name. But the second the thought materialized, he knew it was a bad idea. There was a part of him that knew that Arthur would never forgive him if he slept with his sister. Maybe Merlin would be her type… either way, he was incredibly grateful for everything she’d done for him.

Stepping off the platform, he flipped his hair out of his face and reached for some of the bags. The least he could do was help carry things. But none of them would accept his help, instead they simply followed them out of the shop and all the way back to the hotel.

When they made it to the suite, Gwaine watched as Morgana handed couple of bills to each of the men who had followed them up.

Once they’d left, Gwaine collapsed onto the couch. He was exhausted. But no sooner had he propped his feet up on the coffee table, than the room phone started ringing. Morgana had disappeared into one of the suite’s many rooms, and was no where to be seen.

Shrugging his shoulders, he reluctantly pushed himself into a standing position and answered the phone.

“Hello?”

“Never, ever answer the phone.” Arthur said bluntly.

“Then why are you calling me?”

“I’ll be in the hotel lobby at 7:45.”

“You’re not coming up to the door?” Gwaine said in an exaggerated pout.

“This isn’t a date, it’s business.” Arthur replied, but Gwaine could almost hear the small smile in his voice.

“Fine, I’ll meet you in the lobby, but only because you’re paying me to.” He couldn’t help but laugh as he put the phone back on the receiver.

He was almost back to the couch when the phone rang again. Eyeing it suspiciously, Gwaine almost thought about letting it go, just letting it ring and waiting for Morgana to come back. Almost. But what he actually did was disregard Arthur’s instructions and snapped the phone off the hook. 

“I told you not to pick up the phone”

“Then stop calling me!” Gwaine could hear the other man laughing as he hung up, holding back his own laughter until he collapsed back onto the couch.

By the time Morgana came back, he had almost gotten himself under control. The laughter had died out, but just hearing Arthur’s voice had lifted a weight off of his chest that he hadn’t realized was even there.

“Everything is laying out on the bed and the suit will be up shortly,” Morgana said, as she flicked through her phone, “I have to get going. But before I go, promise me that you’ll make sure my brother has some fun?”

“I’ll do my best,”  he shrugged. “Chances are we’ll wolf down some food and be back here for some fun.”  

“I thought it was dinner with a client?”

“Yeah, but it will probably be quick,” as each word left his mouth, Morgana’s eyes got wider. “Right?”

“You’re kidding me?” Her eyes almost comically large at that point. “He didn’t tell you what you were getting into?”

“I know how to eat.” Gwaine said, a bit taken aback.

He opened his mouth to argue, but was met with Morgana’s arched brow.

“No darling, you have absolutely no idea.”

* * *

“Trident?”

“Try again.”

“Food fork?”

“Gwaine.”

“Morgana.”

“You need to take this seriously.”

Gwaine huffed and let his head drop on the empty plate in front of him. He’d almost been set free for a relaxing evening until he’d opened his mouth and Morgana got it into her brain to instruct him in all things formal dining.

Which was how he ended up held prisoner at the table, surrounded by more dishes and silverware than he and Merlin had in their entire apartment and being endlessly quizzed by an unrelenting witch.

Shivers ran down his spine and Morgana sunk her fingers into his hair and pulled his face up off the table. Somehow she’d reset the entire setting without him even noticing.

“Again,” she snapped, releasing her hold. “What is first?”

“Napkin,” Gwaine grumbled. Shifting in his chair, he unfolded the napkin and rested it on his lap, just as she had taught him.

If the sigh that escaped her was anything to go by, apparently she wasn’t satisfied. Even if it was technically the right answer.

“Just because you have perfect hair doesn’t mean you can get away with being a slob,” she said,  “Elbows off the table. Don’t slouch.”

Reluctantly, he rearranged himself until he was in the ‘proper’ position and turned his attention to the forks. Picking up the smallest one he said, “Salad fork?”

Luckily he was looking, because he was able to brace himself for the smack upside his head.

She sat down heavily in a chair next to him and pointed to each fork in turn, “Fish fork, salad fork, dinner fork.”

“Fish, salad, dinner” he repeated dutifully.

“Now the glasses.”


End file.
